Shloka 20
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
ख्याता दहदहा चैव तथा धमधमा नृप । खण्डखण्डा च राजेन्द्र पूषणा मणिकुट्टिका
khyātā dahadahā caiva tathā dhamadhamā nṛpa | khaṇḍakhaṇḍā ca rājendra pūṣaṇā maṇikuṭṭikā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, there were also (weapons and missiles) famed by the names Dahadahā and Dhamadhamā; and, O lord of kings, (others) called Khaṇḍakhaṇḍā, Pūṣaṇā, and Maṇikuṭṭikā.” In the grim setting of war, the narration catalogs fearsome implements whose very names evoke burning, pounding, and shattering—underscoring how violence, once unleashed, multiplies its forms and intensifies suffering.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a stark reminder that war is not a single act but an expanding system of harm: even the named instruments of battle embody burning, pounding, and fragmentation, pointing to how violence proliferates and deepens suffering when dharma is eclipsed by hostility.
Vaiśampāyana is enumerating notable weapons or missiles present in the conflict, listing them by their traditional names—Dahadahā, Dhamadhamā, Khaṇḍakhaṇḍā, Pūṣaṇā, and Maṇikuṭṭikā—within the broader war narrative of the Śalya Parva.